jerleong

Hahaha my first ever rental was a Malibu.. and I did not like it one bit! The engine was (as you mentioned) underpowered, buzzy and doesn't actually give good gas mileage. Although I somewhat remember using the manual mode on that, I am pretty blur on it's responsiveness. Hmm.. Time for another rental!

TRD_808

Very nice ride reports from both of you. I tried to get a Camry during my last rental but was not about to turn down a '12 Maxima which was a blast.

As far as the "manual shift mode" I understand it's an available feature but does anyone really expect it to be anything half decent? They're all economy cars.. Once you drive a car with a (real) manual trans, all the faux sport shift mode things don't compare. No clutch = no fun! Like it was pointed out, you barely have control anyway, the computer still intervenesT. A friend of mine just bought a Civic Si (which only comes in 6spd manual) and it was fun to drive but I'm happy with my more pedestrian auto trans. The Si has a stiff clutch which I didn't care for, though I guess that'd give me a muscular left leg

Anyway, I have a rental coming up since my personal car is going into the body shop . We'll see what I get. I reserved a PCAR but I'd think about taking a '12 Camry if they had one!

chemist661

I own a 2005 4 cyl Camry that is a 5 spd. I bought this car brand new and I got a "smoking" great deal on the car as it was one of 6 "ad" cars on the lot. Alot of people did not want to buy a manual Camry when they got to the lot and found out it was not an automatic. ( I did!)

I get decent gas mileage (34-36 mostly highway (overall) even with some driving in Los Angeles rush traffic). I enjoy shifting and I am in my mid 50's. I rent alot from the HLE's for the 2-3 day weekend when there are great deals. (like now with freedom rate w/coupons!).

I haven't rented a manual shift car in the USA since 1984 when I got a Honda Accord for $15 for a one day rental. Manuals never available since 1984 in the USA. Loved driving that car!! I rent manuals when I am overseas (Europe, Australia, NZ) as they are usually alot cheaper than automatics and get better gas mileage. (in my experience).

TRD_808

You know what's funny? I also have a 2005 Camry! 2.4L I4 with the 5spd auto though. I added factory alloys, tint, reverse sensors, and OEM fog lights. I always wondered what my car would be like w/ a 5spd manual! My highest was 33 MPG mostly highway. There's really just not enough highway here in Hawaii to get good gas mileage, everything is mostly city driving. Great car.. I'm about to hit 50K miles and no problems except the water pump a little while ago.

I really like my Camry so I hope to get the new Camry as a rental sooner or later. I'm most interested in the new 2.5L engine and 6spd auto trans.

GW McLintock

One thing I just remembered was that I was really confused by the windshield wiper controls. It's just like on my '04 Malibu (and the '12 one too), but rather than notching the stalk upwards to increase power, you notch it downwards -- which is counter-intuitive to the rotating knob on it that you rotate upwards to increase intermittent speed. This really bugged me and confused me when it rained

-J.

TRD_808

It's funny because I much prefer the stalk going down rather than up. Up is one swipe of the wipers, pull toward you is windshield spray, and downward is turning the wipers on. I guess that's intuitive to me because my car as well as friends'/family's cars I look after all function like that. MYs ranging from '95 thru '11, so it's not just a new or old car thing.